History Main / UncertifiedExpert

* The VictimOfTheWeek in an episode of ''Series/LawAndOrder'' is a highly respected ADA who is revealed after his death to not actually have a law degree and to be working under a false identity. Similar to the ''Suits'' example below, it's revealed that he scored extremely high on the LCAT but for whatever reason never went to law school, and had an encyclopaedic knowledge of the law. When his true identity is revealed all his cases are reviewed and fought to be absolutely watertight.

Compare AntiMentor, where the "expert" is faking it (or is just very bad at teaching), and ObsoleteMentor, who did have the training but hasn't stayed up to date. Compare and contrast BackAlleyDoctor, in which being an uncertified expert (in medicine) makes one hard to practice it openly, unlike in this trope. See also ImNotADoctorButIPlayOneOnTV, when the only claimed certification is acting the role of a fictional expert.

Compare AntiMentor, where the "expert" is faking it (or is just very bad at teaching,) and ObsoleteMentor, who did have the training but hasn't stayed up to date. Compare and contrast BackAlleyDoctor, in which being an uncertified expert (in medicine) makes one hard to practice it openly, unlike in this trope. See also ImNotADoctorButIPlayOneOnTV, when the only claimed certification is acting the role of a fictional expert.

* ''Franchise/HarryPotter'': Hagrid is a teacher at Hogwarts, but never actually graduated, and was expelled and had his wand broken. He's only teaching there due to Dumbledore's intervention. Later it's revealed that he was framed, and he has his good name restored along with his wand. His expertise in the subject -- Care of Magical Creatures -- comes from years of being the Hogwarts gamekeeper and his hobby of breeding and rearing dangerous beasts. Also, while he's excellent at his chosen subject, he starts off as a terrible teacher, in part because he doesn't seem to understand the danger his favorite animals have to children who don't have his monstrous size and strength. Over the course of ''Prisoner of Azkaban'', ''Goblet of Fire'', and ''Order of the Phoenix'', we see Hagrid come into his own as a teacher and he has no shortage of lessons that his students find enjoyable, such as with Nifflers. If it weren't for Draco Malfoy's meddling, his first lesson would have been well-taught as well, but it destroyed his confidence.

* In ''Film/TheMatrixRevolutions'', when Captain Mifune is dying and tells the kid that's been assisting him to pilot his mecha, the kid claims he never finished the training for it. Mifune replies that he never did either.

* ''Literature/ThePositronicMan'': When Andrew Martin arrives on Luna City, one of the [[ColonizedSolarSystem colonies on the moon]], he is shocked by [[FictionalFieldOfScience prosthetologists]] calling him "Dr Martin", as (despite being the inventor of the field and [[ProfessorGuineaPig foremost researcher and experimental subject]]) he only has an honorary degree (hundreds of them, [[PhonyDegree but still]]). He requests that they simply call him "Andrew", as he is a [[DeceptivelyHumanRobots robot]], and despite their promises they occasionally lapse into calling him Dr Martin.

* ''Literature/TheDaevabadTrilogy'': Due to the {{Masquerade}}, [[HalfHumanHybrid Nahri]] can't exactly tell humans that she has HealingHands and studied medicine under the [[OurGeniesAreDifferent djinn]], so her old friend is a bit thrown when she performs emergency brain surgery on a child in ''The Empire of Gold''.

* Crossed with ObsoleteMentor in an episode of ''Series/{{Scrubs}}''. Dr. Townsend is a beloved, grandfatherly figure at the hospital, (which you might expect as he's being played by Creator/DickVanDyke) and even MeanBoss Dr. Kelso has a deep friendship with him. However, while Townsend is a legitimate doctor he has fallen way behind the times in terms of medical technique and has failed to become certified in or learn the new treatments that would be much more effective than the outdated ones he is still using. After using one of those outdated techniques almost causes a patient to die, Kelso and Townsend [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVTWoPeMWSQ have a quiet confrontation]] and Kelso is reluctantly forced to let Townsend go from the hospital as a result.

'''Townsend:''' [''after a slight hesitation''] Of course.\\

'''Townsend:''' [''getting defensive''] What the hell is this all about?\\

* Shed, TheMedic from early episodes of ''Series/TheExpanse'', faked his medical degree and got a job on the ''[[SpaceTrucker Canterbury]]'' just to get away from a drug dealer that he owed money to. However, while far from an expert, (and despite his treatments being the subject of much ridicule by the rest of the ''Canterbury's'' crew) he's apparently not completely hopeless as a medic, as he's able to save [[AcePilot Alex's]] life during an emergency.

-->'''Professor:''' Are you related to the John Kallam who wrote the textbook we’ll be using?
-->'''Student:''' [[ActuallyIAmHim I]] ''[[ActuallyIAmHim am]]'' [[ActuallyIAmHim the John Kallam who wrote the textbook you’re using.]]

* ''Literature/TheDaevabadTrilogy'': Due to the {{Masquerade}}, [[HalfHumanHybrid Nahri]] can't exactly tell humans that she studied medicine under the [[OurGeniesAreDifferent djinn]], so her old friend is a bit thrown when she performs emergency brain surgery on a child in ''The Empire of Gold''.

* ''Literature/TheDaevabadTrilogy'': Due to the {{Masquerade}}, [[HalfHumanHybrid Nahri]] can't exactly tell humans that she studied medicine under the [[OurGeniesAreDifferent djinn]], so her old friend is a bit thrown when she performs emergency surgery on a child's skull in ''The Empire of Gold''.

* Because of the nature of the martial arts he studied, Bruce Lee never had anything like a formal rank or certification. He also had no training in nutrition or exercise science. Regardless, he was considered a world-renowned expert in all of those fields.

* Ryouma Takebayashi from ''LightNovel/ByTheGraceOfTheGods'' is the world's premier expert on slimes, having artificially-induced new evolutions of slimes that not even the God of Creation, Gain, thought was possible; unlocking the secrets behind long-standing mysteries like how do slimes evolve into their variants (because of their diets) and how Big Slimes are formed (they're at least 100 slimes acting together as a single being) and why other Tamers can't go into a Monster Contract with them (they're attempting one spell when they need to do at least 100 individual spells at once); and created numerous revolutionary applications for them, founding a successful laundry business that advances the world's hygiene practices by lightyears. He has no formal training whatsoever; didn't realize that a Monster Tamer's Guild existed or could have provided him with knowledge, equipment, and fellow researchers until ''after'' most of his accomplishments; and spent all that time living alone in the woods with just his slimes. To really hammer the point in, said Guild only gives [[DudeWheresMyRespect him the bare-minimum certification]] despite his groundbreaking accomplishments, as slimes are seen as a beginner's monster at best or a useless critter at worst, as it takes [[MagikarpPower serious time, effort, and investment to see their true potential.]]

* Kiley Shefford of ''Webcomic/MenageA3'' is a ''student'' of psychology who takes it upon herself in fits of enthusiastic overconfidence to act as a psychotherapist to other members of the cast -- albeit sometimes quite effectively, thanks to ger grasp of HollywoodPsych. Her lack of actual certification has on occasion been the basis of a joke.
* Sammie from ''Webcomic/TheZombieHunters'' had absolutely no background in medicine before becoming a medic in a post ZombieApocalypse world, she did it purely because in the wastelands where she was living doctors and medics were so rare they were valued highly by the community and guaranteed good treatment. Due to [[TaughtByExperience a lot of experience with people getting wounded]], and studying old medical books, she eventually became a competent medic.